A youth art exhibition and “chat chairs” will be set up in Hobsons Bay to coincide with Mental Health Week.
The Leaders of Today (LOT) PROJECT art exhibition, exploring youth mental health, will run at Williamstown library until October 17.
LOT spokeswoman Hue Man Dang said the exhibition by artists aged 12-25 was inspired by local filmmaker Patrick Ilagan.
“Last year, when the PROJECT film festival ran, the winner of the people’s choice award had the theme of suicide in their video,” Ms Dang said. “So, this year, LOT partnered with Patrick to create a platform where young people can talk and use a creative medium to express their experiences of mental health.
“We wanted young people to express what they feel about mental health and their experiences of it because the reality is, it’s such a taboo topic and some people just aren’t willing to talk about it.”
Altona’s Joel Gallery is hosting a week-long mental health program from October 13-19, which includes creative art activities, information on mental health resources and the “chat chair” where people can share their story with someone.
It will be launched at 7pm on Friday, October 13, and will run from 10am-4pm until Thursday, October 19.
